JAMIS Software Corporation : FAQ

Question: How do I see all the time cards as an administrator?
     Answer: There are two screens where you can do this: Time Card Review, and Current Time Card Detail Status.
     Go to Management > Time Card Review. Select the time card schedule, time card start date, and time card status(es), then click Retrieve.
     Go to Reports > Current Time Card > Detail Status. Select the time card status(es), time card end date based on the time card schedule, and report by option, then click Retrieve. You have the ability to export to Excel.  Back to Index

Question: Can I see amended time cards in JAMIS Administration?
Answer: Yes. Go to Reports > Current Time Card > Summary Status and More, then click the Amended Time Cards tab. This shows you the employee ID and name, end date, and approval status of the time card. Back to Index

Question: How do I archive or export time cards?
     Answer: Go to Interfaces > Export Time Cards.
     Depending on how your company handles the final processing of time cards, select the status(es) from the Time Cards to Export dropdown list: Approved Only, Approved/Partially Approved, Approved/Partially Approved/Submitted, Approved/Partially Approved/Submitted/Open, and All.
     Select from the Time Card Schedule dropdown list.
     Select from the Time Card Date From and Time Card Date Through dropdowns. Note that these are based on the time card schedule periods with an Open status.
     Make sure that the Export Current Time Cards check box is checked.
     If you would like to export by ranges, under Export Ranges you can enter employee ID and organization 9 (department) ranges.
     The ASCII Output File Information fields default from your JAMIS Administration settings. You won't change these unless your setup requires a custom export.
     Click OK. Once the export is complete, the system automatically archives your time cards.  Back to Index

Question: How do I export amended time cards?
      Answer: Go to Interfaces > Export Time Cards.
      Depending on how your company handles the final processing of time cards, select the status(es) from the Time Cards to Export dropdown list: Approved Only, Approved/Partially Approved, Approved/Partially Approved/Submitted, Approved/Partially Approved/Submitted/Open, and All. Note: Unlike when you export current time cards, exporting amended time cards processes all time cards in the system that have the status that you select.
      Select from the Time Card Schedule dropdown list.
      Select from the Time Card Date From and Time Card Date Through dropdowns. Note that you do not need to open up the time card schedules to export amended time cards. You can post amended time cards to the current time card period because they are considered "manual entries."
     Make sure that the Export Amended Time Cards check box is checked.
     If you would like to export by ranges, under Export Ranges you can enter employee ID and organization 9 (department) ranges.
     The ASCII Output File Information fields default from your JAMIS Administration settings. You won't change these unless your setup requires a custom export.
     Click OK. Once the export is complete, the system automatically archives your time cards.  Back to Index

Question: Vacation hours due in JAMIS Financials do not match the balance showing in e-timecard. Why?
Answer: This means that the employee has vacation hours taken on their current time card, as reflected by the balance on their time card, but not in JAMIS. To confirm this, you can pull up the employee's time card and verify the balance on all current time cards.
Another reason may be that the time cards have not been exported and posted to JAMIS; therefore, JAMIS may have more hours, and time cards may have less hours. Once you run an import from JAMIS to e-timecard, the balances should match. Back to Index

Question: Is there a way to close time card periods automatically?
Answer: Go to Time Card Setup > e-timecard Initialization, then click the Interface Options tab. Check the Close Time Card Period after Interface check box, then click Save. Back to Index

Question: How do I remove the comments section from the time card line?
Answer: There is no way to remove just the comments from the time card line. The setting affects explanations for reason codes, too. Go to Application Setup > Parameter Setup, then click the System tab. Check the check box for Hide comments and explanations during time card entry, then click Save. Back to Index

Question: Is there a way to restrict approvers from accessing the employee's personal job list?
Answer: Yes. Go to Application Setup > Parameter Setup, then click the Approvals tab. Check the check box for Approvers cannot modify employees' personal job lists, then click Save. Back to Index

Question: Can e-timecard error messages and warnings be customized? If so, where do I customize them?
Answer: Yes and no. There are some automated and system messages that you cannot change. They are built into the program.
The messages that you can change and add are located under Application Setup > Messages. When you add messages, please follow the same numbering sequence. Before you delete default messages, please check with JAMIS Support to ensure that it is okay for those messages to be deleted. Back to Index

Question: Can we have more than one companywide approver for time cards?
Answer: No. There can be only one companywide approver for current time cards, and one companywide approver for amended time cards. If you need someone else to also have the same access as the companywide approver, then you must set up an approval delegation. Back to Index

e-xpense Administration

Question: What do CONUS and OCONUS stand for?
Answer: CONUS stands for Continental United States, covering all the states in the U.S. with the exceptions of Alaska and Hawaii. OCONUS stands for Outside the Continental United States, including Alaska and Hawaii and all international locations. These are the per diem rates that government contractors use. Back to Index

Question: How do we get per diem locations added in our expense system?
     Answer: JAMIS Software loads the CONUS tables for hosted customers as they become available.
     For installed customers, you can request the tables through JAMIS Support at 1-877-878-7403 or by emailing support@jamis.com.
     JAMIS Software can also provide OCONUS tables, which are available for loading once a year. The difference from CONUS is that JAMIS does not maintain changes made throughout the year for the different locations. It is the responsibility of your company to keep track of the rate and seasonal changes. For OCONUS updates and more information, you can go to http://www.gsa.gov/portal/category/104711.  Back to Index

Question: What do I do if a per diem location is not listed for a particular state?
Answer: It is up to your company to decide how you want to handle per diem rates for cities that don't have a listed rate. One option is to go to http://www.gsa.gov/portal/category/104711, then enter the state and city. This pulls up either the closest rate or the standard rate for that city.
JAMIS Software also provides the Other Location option within your per diem locations for each state. This is the standard rate that the GSA site provides for cities that don't appear. Back to Index

Question: How do I add employee advances to an expense report?
     Answer: The prerequisites are that you must set up a cost element and tracking job for employee advances. Below are the steps to set up employee advances.
     Create an advance category under Expense Setup > e-xpense Categories. Example: ADV.
     Make configuration settings under Expense Setup > e-xpense Initialization > Main tab. In the Advance Payment Information area, enter the job number, cost element, and expense category for advances, then click Save.
     Go to Expense Setup > e-xpense Forms and select the expense form(s) where you want to use employee advances. If your form has a pre-authorization request tied to it, then you must check the Allow Cash Advance box. If, however, you are not using pre-authorization requests, then you must check the Pre-Authorization Required box. This lets you check the Allow Cash Advance box; then, you can uncheck the Pre-Authorization Required box to provide the advance option on the expense report.  Back to Index

Question: How do I remove the location function from my expense form?
Answer: Go to Expense Setup > e-xpense Forms and select the expense form that you want to edit. Under the Main tab, select Don't Default Per Diem from both the Enforce Per Diem Lodging and Enforce Per Diem M&IE dropdown lists, then click Save. Back to Index

Question: When I export my expenses to JAMIS Financials, I get a duplicate error message for the voucher number that I am bringing over. Why does this happen?
     Answer: The reason that you are getting the duplicate error message for the voucher number (expense report number) is that an expense form already used the report number that you are trying to export.
     If the expense report export has a Verified status, then you can delete the current expense report and use a different, unique report number.
     If, however, the expense report export status is Posted/Exported, then you must manually add the voucher in JAMIS Financials as report number_ reference. For example, 1002_CORP for form name, or 1002_2 for the second expense report.
     Here's how to prevent this from happening. If you have more than one form, we recommend as a best practice that you stagger your request and report numbers. For example, if your CORP expense form starts with 100s, then make your TRVL form start with 10,000s. If your company processes a lot of expense reports and pre-authorization requests, then you should monitor your form numbers and adjust them accordingly.  Back to Index

Question: How do I organize the categories on my expense form?
     Answer: Go to Expense Setup > e-xpense Forms and select the expense form that you want to edit. When you click the Categories Setup tab, you can see two sections: Available Categories and Selected Categories.
     Under Selected Categories, select the category line above where you want to add the entry. Next, under Available Categories, select the category that you want to add, then click Add. This puts the category below the highlighted category.
     If you need to add a category above the first line category, follow the process to add the new category; this places it under the first category. Then highlight the first category and click Remove. The newly added category is now at the top. To add the removed category back, note that it is now located at the bottom of the Available Categories section.  Back to Index

Question: How do I enter other Privately Owned Vehicle (POV) mileage rates in JAMIS? I only see a place for one mileage rate under Expense Setup > Per Diem Tables > Location Code > MILEAGE.
Answer: JAMIS calculates the mileage reimbursement only for the standard POV rate. You can have only one in the system. If your company would like to use other modes of transportation on an expense form, then you must set up a new category. When the employee enters an amount on the expense report for this new category, they will have to manually calculate it based on the miles and the rate per mile provided by the GSA. Back to Index

Question: What does "invalid" mean when an employee sees it on the Distribution Summary screen where the cost element should be?
     Answer: This means that the cost element that is associated with the category is not set up in the related job's cost element table. If the job that the employee is using should include that cost element, then you must correct this on the JAMIS Financials side.
     For example, if the category has a travel class cost element in the 3000s series and the job for distributing expenses is a G&A job, then it is possible that the travel cost element(s) are not present in the G&A cost element table. In most situations, the employee selected to distribute expenses using the incorrect job for this category.
     To correct the error, the employee would select the correct job. If the employee correctly needs to have all charges go toward G&A expenses, then in JAMIS Financials you must add the travel cost element(s) to the G&A cost element table.  Back to Index

Question: An expense approver has been added to an expense approval group, but they still can't see the expense report to approve. How do I fix this?
Answer: It is likely in this situation that the employee created the expense report prior to the expense approver getting added to the approval group. You must reroute the expense report by having the employee make a change to the description line and resubmit. Or, have the mass entry expense administrator do the same thing and click Finish Mass Entry to resubmit the expense report. Back to Index